The Department for International Development (DFID) is the part of the UK Government that manages Britain's aid to poor countries and works to get rid of extreme poverty.
To attain its primary goal, the DFID supports long-term programmes to help tackle the underlying causes of poverty and also responds to both natural and man-made emergencies. Its overall mandate is the attainment of the United Nation’s Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) in the specified time frame (2015) which it seeks to do by working in partnership with governments, civil society, the private sector and multilateral institutions including the World Bank, United Nations agencies, and the European Commission. These are outlined below:
- Halve the number of people living in extreme poverty and hunger
- Ensure that all children receive primary education
- Promote sexual equality and give women a stronger voice Reduce child death rates
- Improve the health of mothers Combat HIV & AIDS, malaria and other diseases
- Make sure the environment is protected
- Build a global partnership for those working in development
It is within this context of seeking to rid the world of extreme poverty that the DFID entered into a partnership with the Government of Jamaica (GOJ) and the KRC to fund the Jamaica Urban Poverty Project (JUPP) between 1997 and 2002. The goal was to achieve sustained improvements in the quality of life of poor urban communities across Jamaica.
DFID works directly in over 150 countries worldwide and has its headquarters in London and East Kilbride, near Glasgow.
